The celebration of the America's Cup in Barcelona has served to accelerate many projects on the waterfront that had been stored in a drawer for years, even decades, but it has also put a brake on others. In this latter group was the second headquarters of the Liceu in Port Vell, a necessity for the cultural institution that was announced shortly before the arrival of the regatta and that was eclipsed, put on standby until the competition passed.
The machinery has been set in motion once the possibility of a second edition of the America's Cup was ruled out, given the City Council's refusal to provide more public resources for its organization. Just one week after the farewell of the America's Cup, the Port of Barcelona and the theater have signed the agreement to take steps forward in the concretization of the future Liceu Mar, moving from the hitherto declarations of intent to the first concretions, also taking advantage of a political conjuncture in which all the actors involved, City Council, Generalitat and Government, have the same political color.
The agreement includes the call for a public architecture competition to select the preliminary project and the drafting of the basic project. They will constitute the basis of the new cultural equipment and it is expected that the competition will be resolved by the next season.
It also contemplates the drafting of all the documentation so that the port promotes and processes the necessary urbanistic modification to be able to build it. With a budget of 1.2 million euros, both parties will finance it in equal parts.
The final location, to be determined
The Liceu Mar had been left in no man's land when what was to be its location, the old Imax, was transformed into an America's Cup dissemination center and was saved from its demolition. After a private investment to reopen its doors, the first sign that plans had changed was given a few months ago by the then president of the Port of Barcelona, Lluís Salvadó, who pointed out in an interview with The New Barcelona Post that they contemplated that the new headquarters of the Liceu would be compatible with the Imax.
"The port had decided to demolish the Imax, but the America's Cup arrives and it is given a second life. A private investment of nine million euros has been made and it has been transformed into a very interesting space where activities are organized every week, and entities and companies use a cinema room with an enormous screen, one of the largest in Europe. From here, the decision to demolish it is no longer so obvious," Salvadó pointed out.
This is clear from the agreement of intentions that the port and the Liceu have now signed, where there is no longer talk of the old cinemas nor is it specified where the future cultural facility will be. It is only determined that it will be on the Muelle de Espanya. After the change of scenery, one of the options the port had on the table was to build the Liceu Mar just in front of the Imax, in the Plaça del Ictineu, today a grassy extension where many lie down to rest.
Expand the Liceu
With the reactivation of the project, the Liceu will be able to begin to address the current lack of space that affects both activities it already carries out and prevents it from undertaking new ones. The theater's initiatives are gaining weight, such as its educational and social arm, with a budget that has risen to 1.2 million euros annually, with star projects such as Liceu aprèn to bring opera closer to the youngest or Opera prima to build relationships with its most direct environment. The latter will continue to create new operas together with the residents of Raval after the success of La gata perdida. Only in this case are spaces required to rehearse with non-professional actors and to do so for a long time, something quite complicated in a facility that is already full with its usual programming.
But the Òh!pera project and its small-format operas that allow new creators to be given a voice also need to expand. Now they fit into smaller spaces such as the Foyer or the Saló dels Miralls, but the Liceu Mar can give them a larger room, without aspiring to fill the main stage of the theater on La Rambla. The Liceu's plans include that the Port Vell headquarters serve as the home for a New Creation Opera Center, in addition to promoting the social and educational project, and consolidating a stable dance program.